Ingleside woman pleads guilty to stealing Chain O' Lakes fireworks funds
The co-founder and past-president of the now-defunct Chain O' Lakes Fireworks group has pleaded guilty to charges she stole donated money earmarked for a fireworks show over Fox Lake.
Noreen Michael, 50, pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor theft in Lake County court, Assistant Lake County State's Attorney George Pappas said.
Under the terms of the negotiated sentence approved March 9, Pappas said Michael is required to pay $7,300 to the village of Fox Lake for the fireworks celebration. She has already paid $5,000 of the tab, and has 12 months to repay the remaining $2,300, Pappas said. She was also sentenced to 12 months probation.
Michael, of Ingleside, could have been sentenced to 2 to 5 years in prison had she been found guilty of the felony theft charge at trial. Prosecutors reduced the charge to a misdemeanor in exchange for the guilty plea.
She has been free from Lake County jail after posting the required 10 percent of her $10,000 bail.
Michael was the former president of the not-for-profit "Keep the Spark Alive" organization tasked with bringing fireworks to the shores of Fox Lake.
She was charged after a board member showed police Michael had been using a fireworks fund debit card to take money for personal use between February 2011 and December 2012, authorities said. The board member went to police in April 2013 and an investigation was launched, authorities said.
Pappas said the village is receiving the restitution money because it took over the fireworks event after the not-for-profit organization folded in 2016. The village held the fireworks show over Lakefront Park on Pistakee Lake.
"We are going to put it directly into the fireworks fund," Fox Lake Mayor Donny Schmit said. "People specifically donated that money to the fireworks and we feel it should specifically be used for that purpose."